


For Richer Or For Poorer

by BowserSpears



Series: Bowser X Luigi [3]
Category: Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Mario Bros. (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Big Gay Love Story, Cute, Explicit Language, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homophobic Language, Love Story, M/M, Romance, Sad, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-14 00:51:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15377106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BowserSpears/pseuds/BowserSpears
Summary: It's official: Lord Bowser has lost everything he owns, even his position as king of the Koopas. Will Bowser's husband, Luigi, stay by his side through these dark, tough times, now that the despondent Koopa is no longer the once rugged and powerful man he fell in love with?





	1. Grim Acceptance

**Author's Note:**

> Just to mention to everyone, this is the first fanfiction that I have ever written, so it's kind of just a short test story. I would have had someone proofread this for me, but I'm a little embarrassed to have anybody I know in person read this, so I apologize if there are any grammatical errors or mistakes in general. Still, I hope you enjoy reading my first fanfiction ever!
> 
> Any constructive criticism at all is welcome!

Things are not going well for The Great Demon King Koopa.

Wart, the supreme evil ruler of Subcon and leader of the 8-Bits gang, has recently decided to leave the dream world to conquer more land and gain even more power. Hearing that Bowser has since put his evil and malicious ways behind him, thanks to his loving husband of ten years, Luigi, Wart believed that the spiky-shelled Koopa would be an easy target.

He was absolutely correct.

During their battle, all of the Koopa king's soldiers have either been severely hurt or killed. Even Bowser, after trying to take on the vile amphibian himself, is seriously injured.

It's official: Bowser has failed to keep his place as ruler of his land.

After Wart kicked the Koopa and his family out of their own castle, with what little strength that they both possessed, Luigi and his teenage step-son, Bowser Jr., lugged their badly wounded king to the Koopa General Hospital to be emitted. Hours go by at what seems like a snail's pace as the green clad plumber and his stepson anxiously wait for the doctor's consent to visit Bowser.

At long last, at about the crack of midnight, they are finally given the OK to see their fallen king.

As Luigi and Junior enter his hospital room, they find him lying in bed, waken and alert from being knocked unconscious earlier, with his cracked shell positioned up against the corner of his room. As they approach their king down on his luck, Junior is the first to speak.

“Hi dad. How're you holding up?” He asks, very concerned.

“Not good, kiddo,” Bowser replies with a raspy voice, “I'm hurting all over, my tooth is missing, and my eye is all black and swollen.” He looks down at his body and adds, “Not to mention that my arm and leg are both broken.” Bowser stops to let out a long sigh and turns his head to meet Luigi's and Junior's gaze. “But don't worry, once I'm all healed up, I'll be ready to kick Wart's ass again!” He insists.

Bowser then tries to sit himself up, but winces in pain and immediately lies back down into bed.

“Bowser, try to relax,” Luigi pleads, placing a hand on his husband's uninjured arm. “I- I hate to tell you this, but,” he stutters, pausing to look at his step-son, who looks back, appearing to be thinking the same thing his step-father is, “I think that it's time to give up for once...”

“No! Never! I will continue to fight back until I win this battle, dammit! There is no way in hell that this bastard will get away with stealing my own kingdom right from underneath me!” Bowser protests, becoming infuriated from being told to surrender. The Koopa king, after all these years, still does not believe in giving up, even when things look pretty bleak.

He tries to sit up again, this time forcing himself up regardless of roaring in pain.

“Bowser, please!” Luigi begs, “You cannot go back!”

“Oh? And why is that, Greenie?” Bowser asks, clenching his teeth from the intense pain he put his body through.

“You have no remaining troops or soldiers left, and you're really hurt!”

“Also, you heard Wart, if you show your face anywhere near the castle again, he said, next time, he'll make sure that you're dead!” Junior adds, reminding his dad of Wart's murderous words.

Bowser then sits completely still, staring at the foot of his bed while deep in thought.

“Bowser,” Luigi says softly, putting his hand on his man's shoulder, “It's time to accept defeat for once.”

“Luigi is right, dad,” Junior agrees, meeting his father on the opposite side of his bed, “It's game over.”

Bowser, taking their words to heart, sits in silence for a few minutes, assessing his situation. He then gingerly lies himself back down into bed and stares up at the ceiling as tears begin to form from his eyes. In a matter of seconds, he erupts into a violent crying fit, howling and roaring as loud as he can as teardrops stream down his cheeks and off his face.

Luigi and Junior, both feeling helpless, stare at each other in great concern and shock, as they have hardly ever seen their king weep like this before.


	2. Planning for the Worst

A couple of weeks have passed since the former king of Koopas was brought into the hospital. Since then, Luigi and Junior stayed by Bowser's side, day in and day out.

At this point, the crippled Koopa is healthy enough to be discharged. His bruises and wounds have mostly healed up, he was given a crutch to give himself some form of mobility until his bones mend, and his shell has been fully repaired thanks to a fellow Magikoopa, who used to work for Bowser before Wart took over. As Luigi and Junior thank the many doctors and nurses involved in aiding their king, they all make their way outside the hospital.

There's only one problem though: They have nowhere to go. No home to turn back to.

Realizing this, Bowser instructs the other two to follow him back into the waiting room to figure out what to do or where to go next. They all sit in silence for a few minutes until Junior decides to break the tension.

“So... what now, dad?” He awkwardly asks, “I mean, we can't just stay in the hospital forever. They'll kick us out eventually.”

“I don't know, son. I guess we'll have to-” Bowser pauses to groan in disgust, “Somehow find another place to live, I guess.”

“Well,” Luigi begins as Bowser and Junior shift their attention onto the plumber, “It's just a thought, but we could always stay with my older brother, Mario.”

Bowser turns his head away from Luigi and lets out a “Hmph” as his only answer.

“Or we could ask the princess if we could stay with her?”

Bowser says nothing.

“O- Or we could even ask Ludwig or one of the others for help.”

Again, Bowser says nothing in return.

“I- I'm sure they would all be willing to take us in, you know?” Luigi mentions, unsure of what to suggest to his husband next.

Bowser, letting out a long sigh, utters, “I don't know about that, Luigi.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don't really feel comfortable asking Mario or Peach for a favor,” Bowser reveals, “Plus, I couldn't never ask any of our kids for help like that.”

“But, why not?”

“Well, looking back at how poorly I use to treat your brother and Peach, I just don't think that it would be right for me to ask them for any kind of help,” Bowser mentions as he hangs his head in shame, “Besides, I could never mooch off of our kids for a place to stay like I'm some kind of dead-beat dad.”

“Bowser,” Luigi starts, patting his scaly husband on the shoulder, “That was so long ago. You know that Mario and Ms. Peach have forgiven you for your actions since then, right? Also, you wouldnʼt be _mooching_ off of the kids, and you most certainly would not be a _dead-beat dad_ either.”

Once again, Bowser does not respond.

“They're all good people, Bowser, they will-“

“I said I don't want to bother them, okay!?” Bowser blurts out, trying his best not to scream at the top of his lungs.

Other patients seated in the waiting room begin to stare at the large, enraged Koopa, while some whisper secretively about him to one another.

“What the hell are you all looking at?!” Bowser demands, as his observers quickly quiet down and avoid eye contact with him. “Please,” he urges quietly to Luigi, trying to control his temper, “I don't feel comfortable asking them. Got it?”

Luigi nods his head and groans in frustration, forgetting that it is sometimes difficult to negotiate with his spouse. He thinks for a minute, formulating another plan in his head.

“How about this, Bowser? I have some money stashed away at Mario's house to use for emergencies. It's not much, but it might be enough for us to buy a small Mushroom hut in Toad Town,” Luigi suggests, taking Bowser's free hand to hold, “I guess we could make that work for now, if you're really sure that you don't want to ask Mario or Peach for help.”

Bowser nods his head and calmly answers, “I'm sure.”

“How are we going to get to your brother's house though?” Junior questions, “I'm just saying, The Mushroom Kingdom is clear across the globe and we don't have access to our airships anymore.”

Luigi brainstorms for a few minutes, trying to figure out a solution to their problem. Eventually, one surfaces.

“Unfortunately, our only option at this point is to use the secret warp pipe that your father installed for me behind his castle. It'll take us straight to Mario's house!” 

Right away, Bowser becomes edgy at the thought of setting foot on his old castle grounds again, recalling Wart's promise if he ever did so. “I don't think that's such a smart idea, Luigi!” he exclaims.

“Bowser, we have to,” Luigi insists, “It's our only means of transportation to The Mushroom Kingdom at this point!”

The perturbed Koopa sits quietly in his seat feeling very nervous, tail quivering from anxiety and forehead throbbing from stress, causing him to rub his brow to console it. Luigi, stunned to see his tall, manly, beast of a husband so fearful at the thought of his plan, places a kiss on his scarred cheek.

“It'll work out, big guy,” Luigi reassures Bowser, who blushes, “I promise. If you stick with me, then everything will be alright.”


	3. Settling In

After walking through the plan that they discussed back in the hospital's waiting room, Bowser, Luigi, and Junior make the treacherous journey in sneaking behind their reclaimed castle, being as stealthy as they can possibly be so as to not get caught by Wart's army. Thankfully, the amphibian king has not yet discovered the trio's secret entrance into The Mushroom Kingdom.

After Luigi and Junior quickly assist Bowser down the warp pipe, they head over to Mario's Pad to fetch the green plumber's secret stash of coins. They then travel on foot all the way to Toad Town to invest in a new home to start life anew. Unfortunately, all that Luigi could afford, with what little cash he had, was a small, ramshackle of a Mushroom hut in the most dingy part of the city.

As Luigi unlocks the front door and flips on the light switch, he and the other two each set foot inside their new house, being greeted with the faint smell of must and smoke.

Bowser, quick to criticize the place, asks in disgust, “Is this really where we're all staying?” He then scans the living room and exclaims, “This place is a wreck! It's unacceptable!”

Luigi, trying his best to remain optimistic, tells his discouraged man, “This is the best that we could do with what little money we have.”

Bowser simply rolls his eyes and groans as his response.

“Give it a chance, Bow Bow,” the plumber coaxes, planting another kiss on the Koopa's bearded face.

Bowser grumbles, “I guess,” to himself and has a look around.

The Mushroom hut is really cramped. There is only one small bedroom, one bathroom, and a tiny living room with an even tinier kitchen merged in the back. The old, worn hardwood floor creeks with almost every step, with the possibility of catching a splinter being high, as the texture of the wood feels very rugged. Lastly, the wallpaper in each room appears faded, as well as numerous holes and cracks being formed into the walls.

As Junior opens a random door, he immediately discovers a room with a short, stubby dresser and a depressing-looking one-person bed.

“Guys?” He yells out.

“What?” Luigi and Bowser ask in unison.

“There's only one bed.”

The adolescent's fathers walk to the bedroom, where Junior continues, “It's not even a bed for two people neither!”

“Yeah, I know,” Luigi states, “This is the best that we could get.”

“Well, where are you guys gonna sleep then?”

The two spouses look at each other and ponder for a minute. They then both take note of the shabby-looking sofa in the living room.

“I guess we'll just have to sleep out on the couch together,” Luigi says, feeling the same disappointment that his husband is.

“My god, it's almost midnight already,” Junior realizes, pointing to the clock on the wall.

“We should all probably try and get some rest then,” Bowser recommends. He then takes a deep breath, inhaling the stale air, “It smells like a smoker once live here,” he remarks, gagging and waving his hand through the air, “Fucking disgusting.”

Junior then lies down into his new bed with nothing more than a thin pillow and a raggedy, old, frayed sheet. Luigi takes a look in the closet across from the bathroom and finds some extra blankets that he and his husband can use for themselves. Luckily, Bowser discovers that the couch reclines on one side.

As they get ready for bed, Luigi strips down into his green shirt, boxers, and striped socks, and then assists Bowser with removing his hefty, spiky shell, as he can not do so one-handed. Once the crippled Koopa and his faithful green plumber slip into the reclining sofa, they snuggle together for extra warmth.

Eventually, they both drift off into a rather restless sleep...


	4. Consoling the Beast

“Bwahahahaha!” Wart laughs manically, towering over the defeated Koopa king.

Bowser attempts to pull himself up, but immediately falls back down to the ground, growling from the severe pain his entire body is enduring. He then tries to speak to Wart, but his words come out so inaudible and broken that the large amphibian is unable to understand him.

“Whatcha say, punk!?” Wart demands.

Bowser tries to utter his sentence again, but is interrupted halfway through as Wart boots him square in the jaw.

“Doesn't matter, I don't care to hear your words anyway,” Wart reveals.

Bowser, who is clinging to consciousness on the floor of his own throne room, spits out a canine tooth as he tries one last time to speak.

Wart cuts him off again and brings his face down to Bowser's scarred, bruised face, only inches apart from each other, and declares with a small, wicked chuckle, “Look at yourself. You've gone soft, Koopa! After all these years of settling with that limp wristed, pansy ass plumber of your's, you're not the strong, tough fighter that you once were. Now you're nothing but a weak, pathetic, wimpy queer! A sorry excuse for a king!”

The amphibian pauses, bringing a sinister smile to his face, “And that's all you'll ever be known as. You lost big time, faggot.”

As Bowser's breaths grow shallower and his vision becomes dim and blurry, he shortly blacks out altogether.

  


* * *

  


The former Koopa king wakes up in a panic, breathing heavily while trying to assess his surroundings from his seat in the dark.

Soon recognizing the familiar sights of his and his partner's new home, he thinks to himself, _Get it together, Bowser. It was just a dream._

The overwrought Koopa then slowly tucks in the leg rest of the sofa and gracelessly stands up, making a huge effort not to wake his sleeping beauty laying by his side. As Bowser hobbles to the front door, Luigi's eyes open ajar, catching a glimpse of his man leaving the house.

Once the Koopa latches the door shut, the green plumber sneaks up to the window and steadily pulls back the curtains to reveal his crippled husband sitting on the front porch, shedding more tears. Luigi, surprised to see his man wide awake at this hour and sobbing, slowly creaks open the front door and takes a step outside.

“Bowser? Are you alright?” He asks softly.

Bowser quickly looks behind himself and tries to get a hold of his emotions. “Oh, Luigi,” he mutters as he sniffles and wipes away the tears from his face, “D- Did I wake you up?”

“Not really,” Luigi states, quietly shutting the door behind him, “I wasn't sleeping very deep anyway.”

"Oh."

The plumber then takes a set next to his weeping man and asks, “What's got you so down, big guy?”

“I just had a bad dream, that's all,” Bowser insists.

“What about?”

“Well, in my dream,“ he begins as he stares up into the starry night sky, “It was like I was reliving everything that has happened to us in the past couple of weeks. You know, losing the fight against Wart and his army, being rushed into the hospital, losing all our castles, all of our possessions... everything.”

Bowser then looks down at his feet and starts to tear up again. “I just can't believe it, Luigi. I- I just can't! Never in a million years would I have ever thought that I would lose my entire kingdom to someone else! Someone less deserving, shall I add!” He says with great disbelief as he starts to sob uncontrollably again.

Luigi, feeling troubled from watching his man become so depressed, tears up himself. He then delicately rubs Bowser's shell-less back in hopes of comforting him.

“Wart was right, I- I am just a weak, pathetic, sorry excuse for a king!” The Koopa in anguish says in between sobs.

"That's not true, Bow-"

“I can't believe it! I'm not the king anymore!!!”

Bowser then does something that truly pulls at Luigi's heartstrings.

He lets out a deep, loud, pained roar, one which tells others of his species that he is in great physical or mental pain.

Luigi, spooked by Bowser's sudden outburst, hastily covers his ears from the intense uproar. Never in the young plumber's life has he ever heard his husband, or any Koopa for that matter, make such a distressing, atrocious sound before.

Once he calms himself down again, Bowser clears his throat and continues, “I- I just don't see how things could get any worse for us, Luigi! I mean, really! We are living in a dump right in the middle of the most sketchiest neighborhood in Toad Town, and we hardly have any money left for us to live off of!”

He then grumbles and rubs his forehead, “Ugh! This headache is killing me!”

“Bowser,” Luigi says calmly.

“What?”

“Look at me,” Luigi instructs, “This is not the worst situation that we've ever been in.”

Bowser, raising an eyebrow at the plumber, asks doubtfully, “H- How can you say that, Luigi?”

“Because, it's true, and you know it,” Luigi insists.

“Oh really?” Bowser snorts, “How so?”

“Well,” Luigi begins, “Remember the time when Kamek teleported us to the Dry Dry Desert, miles and miles away from civilization, just because he couldn't accept the fact that we were, and still are, truly in love?”

“Don't remind me,” Bowser groans, muttering under his breath, “That bastard...”

He moves his attention back to Luigi, asking, “What about it?”

“That moment was, by far, the lowest point in our lives,” Luigi affirms, “Your father sent us there to be left for dead. We had absolutely nothing other than ourselves. No food. No water. No nothing. Just us, traveling through the scorching, blazing desert, hoping that we'd even have the chance to see tomorrow together.”

The plumber turns his body and points to their humble abode, “At least here, we are not in danger of, you know, dying.”

Bowser then looks down at his feet and sighs. “You are-” he pauses to let out a little grumble, realizing that can not argue with his man, “You're probably right, Luigi.”

They both sit in silence for a couple of minutes until Bowser decides to share aloud the thoughts that have been racing around in his mind.

“Honestly Luigi, I- I donʼt feel like-” he stops to sigh again and hang his head with indignity, “Like I'm good enough for you anymore...”

Luigi, hearing this coming from his own husband, becomes completely flabbergasted, as he has hardly ever heard his big, strong, manly king talk so negatively about himself. Usually, the former Koopa king speaks very highly of himself, most times to the point of vanity.

After a few seconds of taking in these despairing words, the plumber then looks his man in the eye and asks, almost demanding an answer, “What do you mean, Bowser?”

“My achievements, my notability, my prestige... it's all gone. Now you're married to just a worthless, insignificant nobody. Plus, we're broke as hell! That means I can't give you everything that you've ever wanted anymore!” He replies with.

“But that doesn't matter to me at all, you know that! I've been telling you that all throughout our marriage! I was never attracted to your fortune. I mean, sure, the money was a nice perk to have, but, I have always been attracted to you, not your money.”

The plumber then gives Bowser a small encouraging nudge on the shoulder, continuing with, “Also, you're still a somebody to me. You're my husband, and that's all that matters.”

Bowser, closing his eyes, gently says, “Thank you, Luigi,”

“You are quite welcome,” Luigi replies, adding in a little bow, “Your highness.”

Bowser looks away and snorts, “Don't call me that.”

“What?”

“Your highness,” repeating the plumber's words, “I'm not the king... I'm not the king of anything anymore.”

“No, but-“ Luigi pauses to tenderly move Bowser's head towards him, placing a small kiss on his snout, “You're still my king."

Bowser starts to blush as he stares into Luigi's eyes, cracking a wide, toothy grin, exposing the gap where his canine tooth use to be.

"And I plan to keep treating you as such," Luigi adds on, "You never have to worry about me leaving you just because you're not royalty any longer. **Remember: For richer or for poorer.** That means that we stick together, even when things become financially rough for us.”

Bowser nods his head in agreement.

“It won't stay this way forever, big guy. We'll get through this, I promise,” Luigi reassures, leaning in to hug his huge bear of a husband.

“I love you so much, Greenie,” Bowser says, returning the hug.

Luigi, chuckling and patting the Koopa's bare back, “I love you too, Bow Bow.”

As they end their embrace, the plumber asks, “Why don't you say you and I go back to bed and cuddle together... on the couch?”

Bowser, still smiling from horn to horn, wholeheartedly answers with, “I can't think of anything that sounds better than that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for taking the time to read my story! There possibly will be a prequel released describing how the plumber and the beast became a thing and the struggle they experienced with Bowser's adoptive father/childhood caretaker, Kamek (hinted at in Luigi's speech). Again, thank you for your time, and hope you have a lovely day!


End file.
